Prairie Paws Rescue takes in 14 dogs from breeders

• Image

Kari Lucin / The Sun Beethoven, a 98-pound St. Bernard, plays with Kaye John, cofounder of Prairie Paws Rescue. Beethoven needs a foster family or a permanent home.

Talk about it

By Kari Lucin

The Jamestown Sun

Onyx, Garnet and Topaz — three fuzzy, friendly Pomeranian puppies rescued from puppy mills Sunday — love chasing people, each other, dog toys and sometimes, dizzyingly, their own tails.

The three fluffy pups are the youngest in a group of 14 dogs Prairie Paws Rescue retrieved from rescue operation Almost Home Canine Rescue in Madison, S.D. Almost Home had rescued the dogs from breeders in Nebraska and South Dakota.

“We’re fortunate. This group, all they need is more socialization … and none of them are house-trained,” said Kaye John, Prairie Paws cofounder, who is keeping the puppies in her house in rural Buchanan.

As of Tuesday afternoon, only Onyx, a lively, affectionate ball of black fluff, has been favored with an application for adoption.

The rest are in need of foster homes. Dog food, medical care and necessities such as collars and leashes are provided to foster families.

Should a family leave town, Prairie Paws will arrange for another foster family or pay boarding fees, and for the dogs who aren’t house-trained, John is happy to educate foster families about how to get it done.

The other dogs in the group include Jewel, the mother of the puppies, as well as a miniature poodle, three Yorkshire terriers, two shih tzus, two Maltese and one dappled dachshund.

None of them are housetrained, and they aren’t accustomed to wearing leashes or collars.

They are all extremely friendly. The puppies will scamper across the room to anyone who taps the floor with a hand, and the other dogs wag their tails and try to lick strangers through their kennel fences.

“They’ve pretty much been sitting in a cage and mass-producing babies,” said John of the adult dogs that were rescued.

The group joins a few other Prairie Paws dogs who were already seeking foster families.

Beethoven, a 98-pound St. Bernard with a penchant for belly rubs, is one of them. Though he’s a large dog, he takes cues well and follows John around with very little leash-tugging required.

“He has no desire to come into the house,” John said.

Unlike the dogs from Sunday’s rescue effort, Beethoven is house-trained, and he’s actually a little shorter than most St. Bernards.

Then there are the “senior” dogs, Sissy and Dolly, who at 7 and 10 years old are much mellower than the younger dogs.

Foster families or permanent homes are needed for all of the dogs, and volunteers are needed for upcoming Prairie Paws events, too, such as the Bark to the Park dog walk event slated for Sept. 19.

The dog walk is still being planned, but tentatively scheduled are demonstrations of first aid and CPR for pets, pet agility and a drug dog. Volunteers will be needed to help out with a scavenger hunt, register participants and be on the walking route.

Prairie Paws will also have a booth at the Family Fun Day on Aug. 25, with face-painting, children’s games and weather permitting, some adoptable pets — and adoptable plush toys, too.

The fundraisers help keep Prairie Paws running. The nonprofit organization receives no funding from the government and relies on donations.

The dogs that came in on Sunday all need to have their teeth cleaned, and their dental bills will probably range from $100 to $500, depending on what needs to be done, John said. All of them will need to be spayed.

Their total medical bills will be about $400 to $600 apiece — and the adoption fee for each animal is only $125. According to John, buying a puppy in a store would cost $300 or more, even into the thousands.

The Pomeranian pups won’t be ready to go home with a permanent family for another two to three weeks, John said, to be sure that they’re healthy.

“I believe rescues make the best, devoted pets,” said Stacey Ellingson of Edgeley, N.D., whose family started fostering Prairie Paws dogs in February.

Their first foster dog, Lena, was a “failure” of sorts — the family ended up liking her so much they adopted her themselves.

“Everyone fell in love really quick,” Ellingson said of Lena.

For more information or to donate, visit prairiepawsrescue.com, call 701-320-4553, email prairiepawsrescue@hot mail.com or write to Prairie Paws Rescue, P.O. Box 1114, Jamestown, ND 58402-1114.

Sun reporter Kari Lucin can be reached at 701-952-8453

or by email at klucin@jamestownsun.com

Tags: news, pets